Commentary: Trump, GOP allies intent on rolling back health coverage

By Elizabeth W. Briggs, Commentary

Published
10:15 pm EDT, Monday, July 9, 2018

In the latest in a string of Republican attacks on the U.S. health care system, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are now aiming to legally challenge a key component to Obamacare: its protections of people with pre-existing health conditions — the most vulnerable population in need of health care.

This is unconscionable.

Protections for those with pre-existing conditions was the one thing Republicans and the Trump administration vowed to leave untouched. Instead, this flip-flop is clearly part of a larger, systemic attack on affordable health care that began with their consistent attempts to end Obamacare.

When Republicans pushed the flawed GOP tax bill over the finish line, they may not have finally fully repealed the Affordable Care Act, but they were successful in dismantling it by knocking out one foundational element — the individual mandate.

The bill's repeal of the mandate has been, without question, the most damaging strike against the ACA. The mandate served an important purpose, as it required everyone to purchase an insurance policy — even the youngest and healthiest Americans. Without the mandate and its associated penalties, however, insurance policies' rates will continue to surge by double digits as those without immediate health concerns — young, healthy members of society — drop their plans, forcing insurance providers to raise their rates on millions of ailing Americans most in need of care.

Now, as a direct result of the Republican tax bill and its repeal of the individual mandate, the ACA is more vulnerable than ever. With the bill now signed into law, Republicans are arguing that the mandate to purchase insurance is unconstitutional — further asserting that the court must throw away critical protections for people with pre-existing conditions: the requirements that insurers accept all applicants and charge people with pre-existing conditions no more than healthy people in the region.

There are more than 52 million Americans with pre-existing conditions. One of them is my 31-year old son, who has a lifetime ahead of him with a condition that has no cure: epilepsy. Generic medications run $900 to $1,200 per month. What Obamacare did for people like my son was ensure that they could not, by law, be denied coverage, denied treatment, or charged more based on the status of their health. This meant that every one of those 52 million people stood a chance at living healthy lives, both physically and financially. They no longer had to choose between health insurance and their mortgage, between essential prescriptions and keeping the lights on, between gainful employment and falling back in desperation to SSI/SSDI at the taxpayers' expense.

Weakening or eliminating protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions would leave millions without any affordable health care options, forcing them to pay out of pocket for the critical care they need or, even worse, to forgo care all together.

The ACA was the first egalitarian health care plan this country has seen, but in one fell swoop congressional Republicans and the Trump administration have erased that progress and continue to erode key pillars of affordable health care.

Even if their latest attempts prove unsuccessful, one thing remains clear: that the priorities and motives of the Republican Party are to put profit over people. And if you happen to be one of the millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions, be prepared to kiss quality, affordable health coverage goodbye.

With midterm elections around the corner, the 52 million Americans at risk of losing the coverage they need will have a message of their own to deliver.